This invention relates to a method and an apparatus for processing a thinly walled tube of thermoplastic resin to produce a tubular container having an inwardly directed flange section at an end of the thinly walled tube.
There are containers fabricated by applying a lid typically made of a filmy material to an end of a tube for each container. Such a container is normally used by peeling off the lid from the tube so that the content may be squeezed out. Of containers of the above described type, some are provided with an outwardly extending flange section arranged at an end of the tube, to which a lid is applied.
Generally, the process of manufacturing a tubular container made of a resin material and containing a given amount of a product comprises steps of preparing a tube main body from a thinly walled tube, filling it with the content and sealing the hole of the tubular container containing the contents typically by melting/bonding the open end of the container with heat or by means of an ultrasonic wave. In the above process, there are cases where tubes are laid flat in order to move the tubular container from a processing step to the next.
However, when tubes provided with the outwardly extending flange section are laid flat to transfer the tubular containers to the next processing station, there arises a problem that they rotate around the end opposite to the one where the flange section is arranged, so that the tubes would not be fed to the next processing step properly.
In view of the above identified problem, it is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for processing a thinly walled tube efficiently that is adapted to transfer it from a processing step to the next when it is held to a flatly laid state.